A tale of two weddings

The Duchess of Cornwall's son Tom Parker Bowles has married fiancee Sara Buys - while four other famous couples - including showbiz couple Jordan and Peter Andre - also got hitched.

Charles, wife Camilla and his sons William and Harry were all smiles as they arrived at the wedding of Camilla's son Tom to fashion writer Sara at St Nicholas Church, Rotherfield Greys, near Henley-on-Thames.

Mr Parker Bowles is perhaps most famous for being exposed for snorting cocaine at a West End party. The son of Camilla and Andrew Parker Bowles faced a media storm after it was revealed in 1999 that he had admitted taking the class-A drug.

Eton-educated Tom, now a food writer, is also Charles's godson.

Ms Buys, fashion features editor at Harpers & Queen, left little to the imagination at Charles and Camilla's wedding in April by turning up in a frilly micro-mini skirt with a high split at the back.

But just down the road in Berkshire, glamour model Jordan was enjoying her big day in a very different style.

The nuptials of the weekend's other showbusiness couples were kept top secret before the celebrity magazines hit the stands next week.

Turning their backs on the media attention they often seek, the brides went to extraordinary lengths to avoid being photographed in their gowns.

Each had sold the exclusive rights to their ceremonies to celebrity magazines.

Pink pumpkin

Glamour girl Jordan tied the knot in an extravagant wedding to Peter Andre in the refined surroundings of Highclere Castle in Newbury, Berkshire.

Kerry Katona and Girls Aloud singer Sarah Harding were among her bridesmaids, and Charlotte Church was booked to sing but pulled out to be replaced by the X-Factor's Rowetta.

Jordan, 27, and Peter, 32, met and fell in love on ITV reality show I'm A Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here!, but while they courted in the glare of publicity, yesterday they were kept hidden by a team of security guards at the gated entrance and along the mile and a half driveway to the castle.

Helicopters and police bolstered the operation, which kept both wellwishers and scores of media at bay.

The happy couple had invited 350 people to witness their fairytale wedding, which was reported to include Jordan being taken to the ceremony in a pink Cinderella-style horse-drawn carriage in the shape of a large pumpkin.

In a departure from tradition, Jordan - real name Katie Price - was said to have walked down the aisle to Whitney Houston's I Have Nothing, from the soundtrack of The Bodyguard.

And, as the couple signed the register, a choir sang Stevie Wonder's hit, Signed Sealed, Delivered.

Guests were said to have eaten lobster and Foie Gras, and the waiters are said to be opera singers who suddenly break into song during the reception.

Glossy magazine deals

In the first of yesterday's celebrations, soap beauty Miss Ghadie, who plays hairdresser Maria Sutherland, married 29-year-old Matthew Smith at St Philips Church in Alderley Edge, Cheshire.

Following in the footsteps of Jordan, the couple signed a deal with a glossy magazine and details of the ceremony were kept a closely-guarded secret.

Jodie Kidd's wedding to Internet entrepreneur Aidan Butler at a 16th-century church in Twineham, West Sussex, was also largely kept under wraps.

Kidd arrived in the back of a black car and covered in a sheet making it almost impossible for on-lookers to grab a glimpse of her dress as she was ushered in for the ceremony.

In July, GMTV presenter Kate Garraway announced her engagement to former Labour spin doctor-turned-psychotherapist Derek Draper on the show.

But yesterday she was shielded from media attention by a bodyguard wielding strategically placed umbrellas to block the view of photographers as she left her wedding.